Mother of a Corpse
by Masquerade Maiden
Summary: A modern day Phantom of the Opera told from his mother's point of view.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Phantom of the Opera. The rest is my own version of the story.

To anyone who asks, I will always be the tragic beauty who killed herself when her deformed, demonic child died. That will always be incorrect. No one knows the real story. My time is running short. I have to tell all now. I have to set the record straight.

Erik. Yes, it had a name. He was named Erik. I knew he was different before he was even born. Any woman can tell you that pregnancy isn't easy. You always wish it to be, but rarely does it give you a break. Erik was worse than any other unborn child had ever been. The night he was conceived was a night of dancing, silk sheets, and too much wine. The morning after was hell. The entire pregnancy was unusual. It would steadily get worse too.

I woke up that morning and before I could sit up vomited, violently. I figured it was some sort of hangover. I shuffled to the bathroom to get cleaned up, when I was sick again. It seemed odd that a headache didn't accompany the sickness but I shrugged it off. I was just stepping into the shower when I felt something warm trickle down my legs. I was bleeding. It wasn't my period either. I pulled on my robe and ran to the phone, frantically trying to recall the previous nights events through the alcohol-induced fog. He had seemed so gentle.

My fingers fumbled over the keys. After redialing multiple times I eventually got a hold of the emergency room. They instructed me to come immediately. I pulled on sweat pants and a sweatshirt and drove as fast as I could to the emergency room, having to stop halfway there to get sick again. They received me immediately and pulled me into a stark white, examination room. The doctor began asking me questions and I had to catch myself when he asked whether I had engaged in sexual activity. After noticing my hesitation, he asked when the last time I had was. I replied that it was last night and he automatically stood up and informed me that I had most likely become pregnant the previous evening and had had a miscarriage this morning. I was terrified to think that I may not be able to have children. Yet, I was also terrified to think that I might have had a child. They preformed several tests and then the doctor came to deliver the facts to me. He seemed oddly confused as he proceeded to tell me the one sentence that would change my life forever.  
"You tested positive for pregnancy."

"So I did have a miscarriage? " I asked, feeling on the verge of tears.

"No, you tested positive for pregnancy now. It looks as though you had a miscarriage but the baby is still inside of you, and it is still alive. We've never seen anything like this. It truly is a miracle," he proclaimed, beaming me a smile as though I had been trying for a child. I wasn't ready. I still had to finish my degree. I wanted to get to know... I needed to tell... This child was his. Yet, I couldn't remember his name.

As if he could read my thoughts, the doctor asked, "May I ask who the father is? We can call him in if you'd like."

"I... I don't know," my bewildered voice stammered out.

He looked at me concerned as I heaved into the trash can again.

"This is the worst morning sickness I've ever seen. We'll prescribe some pills to help you with the vomiting. For now, I need you to try to keep down some fluids, call into work for the week, and don't go back to school until you can keep solid food down. Is there anyone who can stay with you for a while?" "No it's just me. Us. It's okay. The baby will take care of me."

Oddly enough, I believed in it.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for all of the constructive criticism. I will try to work on your suggestions.

Also, in answer to your question, Erik'stared mother'said name will be revealed later on. That was intentionally left out. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the next chapter! It'seems a little longer!

Diclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera or any of it'so characters or plot pieces. The only thing that is my own is my spin on the story.

Over the course of the next 9 months I learned many things. This pregnancy was not normal. And, Erik never should have survived. I spent most of my term on bed rest, movies into the hospital at the end. It was a very difficult pregnancy, but much to my dismay, I was alone through it all. I did everything I could to find Erik's father. I went the the nightclub we met almost every night. I ransacked my house searching for some sort of note, but he was gone. I was constantly in pain from both the pregnancy and my broken heart. I refused to tell my parents, making excuses for why they couldn't visit me. I had never felt more alone.

The came the day of Erik's birth. The therapist my gynecologist made me see had assured me of how wonderful this day would be. He told me that for Erik to have survived all the complications was proof of a miracle, and that I would not be alone.

The moment I heard his cry for the first time, it was joined by a gasp of horror. The nurses went dead silent and several turned away. "What's the matter? What happened to him?" I screamed.

Finally, I was answered. "Erik will need to have some tests done, he's alive." Then they rushed my baby out the doors before I could get a look at him.

The next few hours were excruciating as I waited to hear word. No one would tell me what was wrong with him and the nurses would only shoot me pitiful glances. The doctor came in by himself and I geared myself for what I thought was the worst.

"Erik is perfectly healthy," he informed me. I breathed a sigh of relief but I could feel that there was something he wasn't telling me. "He, however, is horribly disfigured."

"Let me see him," I commanded him. I figured it was something from the birth process that could be grown out of. Then I saw him. He was nestled in a blue blanket held against the chest of a nurse who looked terrified. Frankly, I would have been too. He was a hideous baby. He had a few strings of black hair hanging from the top of his head. His nose was sideways and looked like it was pushed up to far. It was almost half missing. His eyes weren't open yet but they were large, too large for his small head. His skin was wrinkled and almost looked torn in some areas. His left cheek looked as though it was covered in scar tissue. I couldn't believe this was my child.

"Can't you do some sort of reconstructive surgery?" I choked out.

"We can, but we can't when he's so young, and it will cost you a lot of money. " the doctor assured me that as soon as we could we would begin working on him.

I took him home after another night in the hospital. I had already bought the bare necessities for him but they seemed to be all that he would ever need. He just layer there. He was very odd. He would just watch me with his black eyes, intently. I could never figure out what he was searching for. What was almost more unnerving was how he didn't fuss like a normal baby. He never cried. I would have to come check on him to see if he needed a diaper change or offer him a bottle. As much as he was ugly, though, I loved him. I loved him with all my heart and all I wanted was to protect him.

To keep him from being hurt I would hide him under blankets in the carrier when I took him out. If anyone asked to see him I would just claim that he was sick and they would leave it alone. By the time he was a toddler his face had grown even more horrid. He was my little man and we would dance in the kitchen before bed time and read his favorite books before bed time. He loved the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling, and we would read a few chapters a night. But he was getting to big for his carrier and I knew I needed to do something.

I took him in for a check up, this time without hiding him. As soon as we stepped into the waiting room two children ran for their mothers and another three started screaming. Erik stared blankly at them for a moment. Then he began searching around as though it was a spider on the floor that had scared them. I picked him up and pulled hishead toward my chest, so as to hide it yet again. Erik gave me a confused look but he was very obedient and did as I wanted him to.

I breathed a sigh of relief once we had settled into the office. Our pediatrician had grown accustomed to Erik's face and always marveled at his strength for a child his age. It was strange that people's first impression of Erik was always horror. The few who got to know him, however, were drawn into him. It was like he had some bewitching charm attached to him that you just had to get close enough to be captivated by.

Erik's pediatrician swept through the door, looking as dashing as ever, and sat in his chair. "So, Erik has been doing alright?"

"In health, yes, but it's his face. He's too old for me to cover him up and people are giving us strange looks. I don't want him to get hurt. So far he doesn't understand the attention he garners, but that won't last forever," I assured him.

"I have an idea," he mused. "What if we ordered him a mask?"

"I don't think I like that idea. People will still know he's different and stare."

"Think about it, we are still unable to proceed with surgery. There is nothing else to do. He, at this point, could be seen as a public disturbance," he asserted.

I stood up and walked out of that office as quickly as I could. Handsome, or not, my child would not be treated that way.

Later that night, Erik and I were playing on my bed before he had to sleep. I carried him to my dressing table and set him on it, so that he could look at me. While I took out my pins and cleaned my face I would sing for him. I never considered my voice excellent, but he had some strange attachment to it. So, I sang more often than not, for his enjoyment.

Suddenly, my lullaby was shattered my a horrific shriek. Erik had turned around and seen himself. He didn't know what he was looking at. I held him and comforted him, assuring him that the monster was gone.

The next morning, Erik's former pediatrician ordered a mask, not for the sake of society, but for his own sake.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks again for the wonderful constructive criticism from many of you! However, in reply to one guest reviewer, I have put a lot of hard work into my story, and I ask that you respect that. The story is meant to seem hurried and strange because that is how Erik's mother's life seemed at this time. Remember the beginning of chapter 1, where it explains that this is Erik's mother's account of what happened near the end of her life. Realistically she wouldn't remember everything in perfect detail. And, I am older than you are treating me, so please, again, respect my work.

I hope you all enjoy this next chapter and can give me some more helpful advice! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Phantom of the Opera. That was all created by Gaston Leroux.

Erik and I were playing on the living room floor one lazy Sunday. He had just received his first mask. Thankfully, he was too young to argue. He was just barely talking. He tried to pull it off a few times, but a stern look from me would silence him. He also knew that on nights he was bad I wouldn't sing for him. That kept him in line most of the time.

The last 3 years had been a daze for me. Erik was my world. I had given up my friends and ignored my family for him. Now, though, the prospect of school, was making me realize that we were going to have to try to have as normal of a life as we could.

Erik giggled as I made a plastic monkey walk up his arm. Then the doorbell rang. I hurried to the door and opened it.

"Miranda! It's so good to see you finally!"

"We were getting so worried!"

What were my parents doing here? I had purposely avoided them, taking Erik away anytime they called to say they were driving down whether I wanted them to or not. They didn't even know of his existence.

"What are you doing here? You didn't call."

"Well that's a fine way to treat your parents," my father said pushing his way through the doorway. "We didn't call because if we did you wouldn't be here when we arrived."

I followed them into the sitting room trying to think of the right words to stop them before I heard my mother give a shriek.

"Miranda you better have an explanation for this!" my mother screeched, furiously.

"Sit down and calm yourselves. I'm only babysitting for a girlfriend."

My father sank into an armchair and my mother delicately sat on the edge of the couch. The rest of that evening went better than I expected. I continued the lie that Erik wasn't mine and that he had been in a car accident, and was horribly scarred from it. They still wanted a better explanation for why I had kept away from them for so long. Better than, "I was too busy," at least. But, they were willing to wait for that. Of course, Erik's charm had sucked them in as well. He was sitting on my mother's lap, trying not to fall asleep, as we planned our next evening together. Just as my father was suggesting the next weekend my mother spoke up.

"Miranda, dear, you don't suppose I could take Erik's mask off for a moment? I just want to see his face. I'm sure it can't be that badly."

"Oh, Mother, no. It's a mess of scar tissue, really, we're supposed to just leave it alone." I reached over and began to grab my baby away just in case. "I really should get him to bed anyway. His mother likes him in bed early."

I knew her curiosity would last, especially because I was always "babysitting" Erik while they were around. He just loved them too. They really were like his grandparents. My mother continually asked after removing the mask, but I would distract her and give her the same excuse as before.

That is, until the day that I came home from work to find her waiting on the front porch, envelope in hand.

"Miranda, you have some explaining to do. I looked at this medical bill of yours and-"

"What? You had no right to do that! Why would you even think that that was okay?"

"Well, your father and I figured that you had been sick before, and that's why you were avoiding us. We thought that you were trying to spare our feelings. I wanted to see for myself how much your bill was, figuring we would help you pay for it. But, you can try to explain this."

"Of course, there must have been a mistake," I laughed. "I take him enough times that my address must have somehow got put in." Yes, I knew it was cheap. But, she somehow bought it. I've always guessed that she wanted to believe it, so she did. She was good at that.

"Of course," she agreed in a clipped tone. She then turned around and headed towards Erik's room. I followed, suspicious. She threw the door open and before I could stop her, tore Erik's mask off.

She shrieked and fell back onto the dresser. "Well, I believe you now," she stammered.

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"Well, nothing that hideous could have been related to us in any way."

At that, something inside of me snapped.

"How dare you! After all the love you've shown him! I will have you know that he IS my child and I love him more than my own life. I was afraid to tell you about him, because I knew you would act this way. I was afraid of the shame you would feel after you found out that I had a one-night stand with someone whose name I didn't know and could not tell you today. But, more than that, I was scared of the shame you would feel about having a deformed grandchild. But, now I realize how wrong I was. Erik is a good boy and deserves to be surrounded by people who love him. You obviously don't love him if you can't stand his deformity. I don't want you in my life or in his life if you can't find any compassion in your heart for him." I picked him up and held him against me tightly. He looked up at me, confused as to why I was yelling at my mother, relieved to have the mask off, and happy to be held by me. I promised myself to do it more often.

"I hope your happy with the mess you've put yourself in. Your father and I have our reputations to worry about."

"Fine, then get out of my house before anyone might see you here."

She stared at me furiously for a moment. "You're not my daughter anymore," she assured me. Then, she left. It was just Erik and I again. I knew we had many challenges ahead, but at least now I knew for sure which side I was on: Erik's.


End file.
